GET INVOLVED

NOTES

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{"slides": [{"src": "/media/original_images/Edited-9.jpg", "description": "<div class=\"rich-text\"><p><br/></p></div>", "url": "/albums/five-farmers-speak-of-their-demands", "type": "image", "album_description": "<p>What were the specific and varying concerns of farmers from different states? We asked five farmers</p>", "slide_photographer": ["Chetana Borkar"], "show_title": "True", "slide_location": "", "image_captured_date": "05 Dec,2018", "album_title": "Five farmers speak of their demands", "track_id": "", "src_resized": "/media/images/Edited-9.height-876.jpg"}, {"src": "/media/original_images/Edited-5.jpg", "description": "<div class=\"rich-text\"><p>Surtiben Arjunbhai Naik: 40 years old, Adivasi, from Khan Patla village in Ghoghamba block of Panch Mahals district, Gujarat. Cultivates corn and vegetables (most of it for her family\u2019s consumption) on 0.75 acres.\u00a0</p><p>\u201cIn my area, widows are usually driven out by their in-laws so they do not try to claim rights on their husband's land. Two of my husband's aunts are staying with us now, for the same reason. But we hardly have money to take care of their needs and medicines. My husband, son and daughter-in-law work as migrant labourers. They travel to cities to earn some money. Though they get Rs. 15,000 a month each, after all the expenses of travel and accommodation, they together can send just Rs. 5,000 a month for our household. To bring some more money home, I go to the forest to at dawn to fetch <i>tendu</i> leaves. We just get Rs. 50 by selling 5,000 leaves [to <i>beedi</i> contractors]. Last season, I could earn only Rs. 500. With such a low income, it is difficult to take care of the two elderly women. I hope the government listens to our demands and give women farmers access to their land.\u201d</p></div>", "url": "/albums/five-farmers-speak-of-their-demands", "type": "image", "album_description": "<p>What were the specific and varying concerns of farmers from different states? We asked five farmers</p>", "slide_photographer": ["Chetana Borkar"], "show_title": "True", "slide_location": "", "image_captured_date": "05 Dec,2018", "album_title": "Five farmers speak of their demands", "track_id": "", "src_resized": "/media/images/Edited-5.height-876.jpg"}, {"src": "/media/original_images/Edited-3.jpg", "description": "<div class=\"rich-text\"><p>Kripal Singh: 75 \u00a0years old, from Firozabad Urf Sitadei village in Hapur block of\u00a0Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh. Cultivates wheat, sugarcane and vegetables on 8 acres.</p><p>\u201cTo avoid keeping my land fallow, I usually grow vegetables after harvesting wheat. That gives me an additional income. But the cost of seeds is very high. To grow 50 kilograms on one acre, we need 500 grams of seed. The cost of just one kilogram of cabbage seed \u00a0is Rs. 3,200. A decade ago, the <i>desi</i> [indigenous] seeds used to cost just Rs. 300-400 per kilogram. But they are nowhere to be found in the market now. On top of it, untimely payments and the high cost of fertilisers have driven many of my friends into serious debts, amounting to lakhs of rupees. I am here to demand that the Yogi government waives off our debts \u00a0and implements the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.\u201d</p></div>", "url": "/albums/five-farmers-speak-of-their-demands", "type": "image", "album_description": "<p>What were the specific and varying concerns of farmers from different states? We asked five farmers</p>", "slide_photographer": ["Chetana Borkar"], "show_title": "True", "slide_location": "", "image_captured_date": "05 Dec,2018", "album_title": "Five farmers speak of their demands", "track_id": "", "src_resized": "/media/images/Edited-3.height-876.jpg"}, {"src": "/media/original_images/_Edited-11.jpg", "description": "<div class=\"rich-text\"><p>Eailas Hembrom: 30 years old, from a Santal Adivasi hamlet in Tola Ghutia village\u00a0in Jamui district of Bihar. Cultivates vegetables, paddy and wheat on a small patch of land for the family\u2019s consumption.</p><p>\u201cWe landless Santal Adivasis face many problems. To earn for our families we work on others\u2019 farms or do odd jobs for Rs. 100-250 a day. Some earnings come from selling <i>tendu</i> leaves and firewood collected from the forest nearby. \u00a0It is very hard to sustain our families. The conflict [between Naxalite groups and the state] adds to our troubles. The police beat us under suspicion of helping them [the Naxalite groups]. But what can we do if they forcefully take our children and brothers away? Many of us are trapped in debts that we took to educate our children and sustain our families. I have come to the march to demand a loan waiver. Our prime minister once said that he will transfer Rs. 15 lakh in every bank account. Where is that money? Can he at least give us some land?\u201d</p></div>", "url": "/albums/five-farmers-speak-of-their-demands", "type": "image", "album_description": "<p>What were the specific and varying concerns of farmers from different states? We asked five farmers</p>", "slide_photographer": ["Chetana Borkar"], "show_title": "True", "slide_location": "", "image_captured_date": "05 Dec,2018", "album_title": "Five farmers speak of their demands", "track_id": "", "src_resized": "/media/images/_Edited-11.height-876.jpg"}, {"src": "/media/original_images/Edited-1.jpg", "description": "<div class=\"rich-text\"><p>Khachodu Singh: 60 \u00a0years old, from Amroha district in Uttar Pradesh. Cultivates wheat and sugarcane on 2.75 acres.</p><p> </p><p>\u201cIn last five years, the costs of NPK (a generic fertiliser) and urea have doubled. Diesel rates too have shot up. In Uttar Pradesh, the promised minimum support price is Rs. 1,700 per quintal of wheat, but we hardly get more than Rs.1,500 for a quintal. The rest goes to middlemen. With all the rising costs, it is very hard to make ends meet. Selling milk used to be another source of income for us. But the price has dropped from Rs. 50 a litre some six years ago to Rs. 20-25 per litre now. For farmers, banks charge 7 per cent interest on loans and 13 per cent on delayed payments \u2013 and a farmer often has to pay this because we receive late payments after selling the crops. All this is pushing us into an unending cycle of debt. I demand that the Uttar Pradesh government waives off our loans and fulfills its promise that payments will be transferred to bank accounts within 15 days of crop purchase.\"</p></div>", "url": "/albums/five-farmers-speak-of-their-demands", "type": "image", "album_description": "<p>What were the specific and varying concerns of farmers from different states? We asked five farmers</p>", "slide_photographer": ["Chetana Borkar"], "show_title": "True", "slide_location": "", "image_captured_date": "05 Dec,2018", "album_title": "Five farmers speak of their demands", "track_id": "", "src_resized": "/media/images/Edited-1.height-876.jpg"}, {"src": "/media/original_images/Edited-9.jpg", "description": "<div class=\"rich-text\"><p>Sardar (<i>surname withheld</i>): 60 years old, from Kundla village in\u00a0Meghnagar block of\u00a0Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh. Cultivates cotton, corn and wheat on 2 acres.</p><p>\u201cThe lack of water is a concern in my area. A canal from the Mahi river brings water to our farms. The cost of digging a tubewell is Rs. 1 lakh. \u00a0I don't have so much money so I depend on rains and water from the canal. It was promised that water will be released [from the canal] after Diwali but there is no water even after a month. How will I sow on time? Now there is no water to drink even. I have dug a well in my farm so that we get at least drinking water. This water scarcity has brought me under debt. I wish that loans are waived off. And that canal water is released immediately.\u201d</p></div>", "url": "/albums/five-farmers-speak-of-their-demands", "type": "image", "album_description": "<p>What were the specific and varying concerns of farmers from different states? We asked five farmers</p>", "slide_photographer": ["Chetana Borkar"], "show_title": "True", "slide_location": "", "image_captured_date": "05 Dec,2018", "album_title": "Five farmers speak of their demands", "track_id": "", "src_resized": "/media/images/Edited-9.height-876.jpg"}], "authors": [{"website": "", "bio": "Chetana Borkar is a freelance journalist who works from Nagpur.", "name": "Chetana Borkar", "facebook_username": "", "twitter_username": "", "author_url": "/authors/chetana-borkar", "show_title": "False", "type": "inline", "email": ""}]}